2024-04-23
5 分钟The Economist Hello, this is Aura Ogumbi,
co-host of The Intelligence, our daily news and current affairs podcast.
Welcome to Editor's Picks.
You're about to hear an article from the latest edition of The Economist, read aloud.
I hope you enjoy it.
Over the next six weeks, nearly a billion Indians will cast their votes.
If the polls are right,
the general election will be a triumph for Narendra Modi, the Prime Minister.
His Bharatiya Janata Party, or BJP, will secure another big majority.
He will serve a third term.
For the opposition, disaster beckons.
The Congress Party,
which led the struggle for Indian independence and dominated politics for decades afterwards,
is headed for a third consecutive defeat.
With luck, this will be a Schumpeterian moment that forces it to reform.
The health of India's democracy depends on it.
It is hard to overstate the role Congress has played in modern India.
Under Mahatma Gandhi, it marshaled largely non-violent resistance to British imperialism.
Under Jawaharlal Nehru and his successors, it ruled India for 54 years,
positioning itself as a one-nation, multi-faith, left-of-center movement.